Here’s an email I got a few weeks ago that I finally had a moment and the energy to respond to:

From: [REDACTED] <[REDACTED]@[REDACTED]>
Date: May 24, 2014 8:54:53 PM PDT
To: may may
Subject: Predator Alert Tool for Tumblr?

Hi maymay,

I think a Predator Alert Tool for Tumblr (PAT-Tumblr) should be built.

Unfortunately, I don’t know if PAT-Tumblr is possible, I have only the vaguest idea of how it might work, I can’t code, and I don’t know how to learn to code. (Yes, I have tried to learn how to code multiple times. Every time, either unexplained jargon or a confusing fundamental concept, e.g. variable assignment made me give up.)

I’ve seen many tumblr posts that are lists of abusive tumblr users. For example, I saw one recently that was aimed at trans women, sharing the usernames of TERFs so that people could block them if they wanted to. (These list posts never seem to circulate very far, unfortunately.) This leads to my vague idea: since these tumblr posts are lists, and tumblr automatically makes its own list of users you’ve blocked, it seems natural to base PAT-Tumblr on lists.

If I understand correctly, PAT-Twitter allows you to make private lists, provide descriptions of the people on your list, share these lists with whomever you’d like, and subscribe to lists another people make. (The red-lined box around flagged usernames is cool, too.) So my hypothetical PAT-Tumblr would have similar features.

So my overall questions are:

1. Is PAT-Tumblr possible?
2. If PAT-Tumblr is possible, how will it work?
3. How can I improve on my own idea of how PAT-Tumblr might work?
4. Can I learn to build PAT-Tumblr, and if so, how?
5. If I can’t learn how to build PAT-Tumblr, how can I find someone else who will?

Yours,
[REDACTED]

I replied:

On May 24, 2014, at 10:54 PM, [REDACTED] wrote:

Hi maymay,

I think a Predator Alert Tool for Tumblr (PAT-Tumblr) should be built.

I think that should happen, too.

Unfortunately, I don’t know if PAT-Tumblr is possible,

Everything is possible.

I have only the vaguest idea of how it might work, I can’t code, and I don’t know how to learn to code. (Yes, I have tried to learn how to code multiple times. Every time, either unexplained jargon or a confusing fundamental concept, e.g. variable assignment made me give up.)

That’s okay. I don’t know how it would work either yet, and I do code. So, y’know, don’t beat yourself up over that. :P

I’ve seen many tumblr posts that are lists of abusive tumblr users. For example, I saw one recently that was aimed at trans women, sharing the usernames of TERFs so that people could block them if they wanted to. (These list posts never seem to circulate very far, unfortunately.) This leads to my vague idea: since these tumblr posts are lists, and tumblr automatically makes its own list of users you’ve blocked, it seems natural to base PAT-Tumblr on lists.

I’m not very familiar with Tumblr blocking because I don’t really use it. I actually use WordPress to publish *to* Tumblr using my own tool called Tumblr Crosspostr:

https://wordpress.org/plugins/tumblr-crosspostr/

That said, I know that Tumblr provides you with a list of users you’ve “ignored” (although I don’t actually know what “ignore” means). You can see it here:

https://www.tumblr.com/ignore

If I understand correctly, PAT-Twitter allows you to make private lists, provide descriptions of the people on your list, share these lists with whomever you’d like, and subscribe to lists another people make. (The red-lined box around flagged usernames is cool, too.) So my hypothetical PAT-Tumblr would have similar features.

Yup, pretty much.

So my overall questions are:

1. Is PAT-Tumblr possible?

Yes.

2. If PAT-Tumblr is possible, how will it work?

I don’t know.

3. How can I improve on my own idea of how PAT-Tumblr might work?

Well, the biggest open question is that Tumblr is slightly different from sites like Twitter in that, as far as I know, they don’t expose an unchanging identifier. Specifically, Twitter gives each user something called a User Id. This value doesn’t change even if the user changes their screen name. Tumblr only exposes a Tumblr name, which users can change. (I think. Am I right about that?)

Another problem is that Tumblr lets you load sites, like mine, that are not part of the tumblr.com domain. I’m “on Tumblr” but I’m actually at http://days.maybemaimed.com. So, this means a theoretical PAT Tumblr would need to be allowed to run anywhere and everywhere, rather than ONLY on .tumblr.com domains, which could pose some other problems.

4. Can I learn to build PAT-Tumblr, and if so, how?

You can. How? I don’t know. :) I didn’t really know what I was doing when I started writing Predator Alert Tools, I just was tired of everyone saying something “should” be done and then doing nothing.

One way you can start could be simply helping me write documentation or test changes to other Predator Alert Tools. With each one that I make, I get better. Plus, a lot of the ideas don’t come from me, but rather from collaborators, people who work with me. I don’t have all the answers, and you clearly don’t either. But if we work together, maybe we can eventually come up with some.

The best ways to get involved in my work is just to start participating. You don’t need to ask for permission. There’s a “How to help” page on the PAT-Facebook wiki:

https://github.com/meitar/pat-facebook/wiki/How-to-help

And there’s a bunch of documentation to write for PAT Twitter:

https://github.com/meitar/pat-twitter/wiki

Anything you do is something I don’t have to do, so anything you do is appreciated, because bluntly I am very demoralized and pretty much always running on empty.

5. If I can’t learn how to build PAT-Tumblr, how can I find someone else who will?

Yours,
[REDACTED]

You just keep talking about it, preferably publicly. Someone will do it eventually because it’s something that’s needed, just like the other PATs.

I’m only one person. I can’t (and I don’t want to) do *everything.* And of course, PAT doesn’t work if no one uses it. No one will use it if no one understands it. Explain it to people and that’ll get others using it, and someone, somewhere will have an idea of how to make it better. When you hear that idea, bring it to me, and I might be able to realize it in code.

It really is as simple as that. No forms to fill out. Fuck forms, anyway.

Cheers,
-maymay
Maymay.net
Cyberbusking.org

See also, “The disparity in resource allocation to this problem should tell you something about priorities and efficacy.“